By Rebecca Owen, Regional Managing Director, Bank North

Bank North is proud to be standing as a beacon of diversity and inclusivity within the financial sector by cultivating an inclusive working environment from day one, leading the way to a distinct shift in the industry.

Having secured our banking licence Authorisation With Restrictions (AWR) from the PRA last summer, we are facilitating small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with access to funding, absent of the restrictive and inefficient administrative burden typically associated with the industry.

It is to the benefit of all employees and customers that Bank North drives forward a dynamic company culture, dedicated to achieving diversity and inclusivity. At Bank North we amplify the voices of those that the industry has historically neglected, facilitating a diverse spectrum of thoughts and ideas, nurturing fresh talent and empowering our whole team.

I joined Bank North in 2020 to lead the Manchester team, having spent over 23 years progressing my career at a leading high street bank. Bank North represented an opportunity to build something new, a chance to get organisational culture right.

Unfortunately, I have faced some negative past experiences in the industry. Joining a new bank was a relative blank canvas upon which we can challenge the typically male-dominated industry culture with the cultivation of an open, progressive working environment, that keeps diversity of thought and talent at its focus.

I want to help other women and colleagues enjoy the same successes as their counterparts, creating a strong cultural framework where people thrive, feel valued and have a diverse pool of role models to aspire to. I look for ways in which I can develop, motivate and upskill our teams to develop emerging leaders with the confidence to push forward and break new ground.

I am striving to break down the barriers that plague the industry by getting women into the positions they are entitled to. Our business does not exist without each and every member of our team; it’s imperative that the financial sector implements people-oriented solutions to change and embrace a diverse and inclusive culture. Yet still, diversity alone is not conducive to impactful change. If we are to truly see the benefits of diversity in the workplace, we must empower women and our wider teams in realising positions within key-decision making roles.

Founding a diverse company culture, with gender balance and inclusivity as a set priority, is of an overwhelming importance in my work here at Bank North. Getting women into key managerial and decision-making roles like underwriting has been a particular focus. Having a new perspective to assess the risk of our SME loans is a vital step towards redressing the unconscious bias that inflicts inequality within the wider financial services sector.

I encourage all women in finance to commit themselves to their network both internally to encourage our future talent and externally to support women who want to work with like-minded professionals. Embedding talented women within banking and finance will establish a community of like-minded, driven trailblazers. Good networking will unlock senior role models for other women to emulate and build confidence and leadership capability within a diverse pipeline of fresh talent.

The easing of Covid restrictions presents scope for women in finance to extend their network within the industry at face-to-face events once more, elevating the quality of opportunities available to both experienced leaders and fresh talent alike. In particular, finding an external mentor offers a chance for aspiring leaders to gain valuable insight for reaching their full potential.

When it comes to the broader D&I agenda, Bank North is operating a regional model from ‘pods’ to increase geographic diversity in access to finance and therefore routes to growth and success — championing SMEs across the UK firstly focussing on the North before expanding.

The pods will be home to regional experts offering a bespoke and informed response to loan applications, in contrast to the centralised approach adopted by other banks and lenders whereby decision-making is centralised. We launched our first pod in Manchester earlier this year with great success and will be opening up in other key cities across the UK in due course, focussing on alleviating regional inequality first and foremost – in line with the Government’s Levelling Up agenda.

Bank North is reshaping the financial sector, challenging the prevailing orthodoxy with diversity at front of mind. In leading the Manchester team at Bank North, I will be committed to developing talented women and teams, empowering people and developing emerging leaders, elevating Bank North’s potential and remoulding industry norms from the top down.

Bank North is the UK’s first truly regional business bank of the modern era. Lending is structured, decisioned and delivered by regional expert teams so it is closer, faster, fairer. Bank North is built upon the best-in-class cloud technology to enable its people to deliver efficient, tailored and competitive finance, with a market-leading customer experience.